Is anybody actually working at aaNet? Just curious as the SQL server has been going on and off line all day and nobody has responded to any emails sent to support. This is not the first time there have been problems with it.

So is this company actually a going concern or has the support level dropped off to 'Don't give a stuff' level before they close down?

Have you called them?

That unfortunately Chris would be another waste of time. Their policy states:

'PLEASE NOTE - IF YOUR INTERNET IS WORKING THE HELPDESK ENGINEER WILL REFER YOU
TO THE AANET FORUMS OR TO EMAIL AANET - THE CALL CENTER IS FOR SERVICE FAULTS ONLY.'

After about three years it looks like it is time to start looking for a new ISP.

Good Afternoon
When i had a problem i rang Eftel. Very helpful Only an idea..!! Don't know if the help desk will be any good to you.

Cheers

Nigel
1300 550 550
helpdesk@eftel.com.au

Thanks Nigel, I will give it a go.

I need HELP writes...

When i had a problem i rang Eftel

An EFTel employee will not assist as an aaNet customer.

Most do not have access to the same systems, nor do they know or understand the processes.

Sleepyoz, when did you send the email to support?

Also, did you post on the forums, like our website asks you to?

I notice you did, only a few hours ago - perhaps it might be a good idea if you gave someone a chance to respond to your thread on the aaNet forums.

Jason

Sleepyoz
Se you have a response. Hope you get it solved soon.

Cheers
Nigel

Hi Jason,

Support Call number is 5732927 as at 1251 and I am yet to get a response. Sorry if it sounds trivial, but this was also noted on the forum on the 15th May and no one from aaNet is yet to respond to that as well. How long does it take someone to respond 'in a timely manner'?

its only the SQL server
its not like ur internet is down
do u rely on ur free web service for something important?

Paul,

I pay for a service, that service includes the use of web space and the use of a database on an SQL server amongst other things. The conditions of that service are that it will be fixed in a timely manner. At the moment I do not have a stable SQL server and I have not received any response from aaNet to an inquiry that was sent at 1236 today.

This is not good enough. If the current owners of aaNet are incapable of providing the service they are contracted to provide then they should get out of the industry. I am in the IT industry and can tell you that basic customer service is not difficult to provide, also the provision of a stable SQL server is also not a difficult thing to do. It just means a commitment to your job.

FWIW yes the information and data I am working on IS important to me. That is all that counts. Apologies for the rant but I am sick and tired of amateurs giving the IT industry a bad name because of their incompetence.

sleepyoz writes...

received any response from aaNet to an inquiry that was sent at 1236 today.

Sending 5+ responses to the same email address within the space of a few hours(and demanding to know why you have not had a response) is not going to achieve anything - there are customers with issues with other services who will have their email replied to first.

The webspace provided is an unsupported and is provided as a free extra.

As per this page:
www.aanet.com.au/sales.html

An aaNet ADSL connection has the following provided free in addition to your connection:

* You get 60 megabytes of space to set up your own personal website. You can also control this space through a simple online control panel.
Each web account is allocated 60 megabytes of space.
You can automatically generate your own MySQL database and we provide PHP to allow you to create dynamic websites. Please note webspace it supported via the user forums only.

The specific answer to your inquiry is, that we are aware of some possible issues with the user-web server(incl databases) and the fix for this issue is the migration to a new user-web server next week(official outage notification will be posted soon).

FWIW yes the information and data I am working on IS important to me. That is all that counts. Apologies for the rant but I am sick and tired of amateurs giving the IT industry a bad name because of their incompetence.

Do not use the aaNet user-web server then, as there is no guarantees of its performance, data integrity, uptime, etc.

If you require a service that is always going to be online all the time you need to use a professional hosting service, and not a free one that came with your ISP.

Jason

Good Evening
Jason quoted.
An EFTel employee will not assist as an aaNet customer.
I have an email address this will prove [@team.eftel.com.au] that i got support when i could not get an answer. At the present time i am not happy with the way the company is looking after the long term clients. I expect to be shot down but that is the way i feel.

No Jason i will not give his name.

Thank You

Nigel

Maybe if you had a little concern about your customers they wouldn't have to ask for an update. Sit down, open up your email and send a reply the first time you get a service request and let the person that is paying for your service know what is going on. If you had provided the information you have just provided me when I first submitted my request none of this would have gone on. Unfortunately this is not the type of response I expected from you. This is just bad PR Jason and I hope you do learn from it.

As for the free service, there is no such thing as a free service. You provide a capability to someone it is then part of the service contract you have entered into with your customer. If you can't provided the service then don't but don't give customers the false impression that you are able to provide it.

I would suggest that you may want to start responding to customers service requests, start treating your customers like they should be treated and getting the bad news off the web and forums like this, it can't be good for business or your career.

I will keep an eye out for the down time of the web services you are providing.

sleepyoz writes...

If you had provided the information you have just provided me when I first submitted my request none of this would have gone on.

Excuse me?

You demanded a response from a email task you logged within less than 40 minutes, and then proceeded to follow up with around another 3 demands within the space of another 30 minutes.

That is unreasonable.

You are not always going to get a rapid response from an email task, especially when it is in relation to a matter outside of the scope of support - the website makes it clear that the webspace is only supported via the customer forums.

You provide a capability to someone it is then part of the service contract

Read your contract, because it is not part of your contract. And even if it were, like all services from aaNet, they are provided on a best effort basis, with no minimum service levels guaranteed.

They are provided as a free of charge courtesy to aaNet customers only.

If you are wanting an ISP that provides a guarantee on its webspace/database provision, as well as an ISP that must respond to email requests regarding such webspace/database questions in less than 30 mins, then you should select an ISP that does so - because aaNet do not.

Jason

Yep it looks like aaNet dont do a lot of things. Good luck with the job hunting.

sleepyoz writes...

Good luck with the job hunting.

Good luck with your new ISP.

Thanks Chris, any recommendations? :) Only kidding, I'll look around.

sleepyoz writes...

Thanks Chris, any recommendations? :) Only kidding, I'll look around.

It sounds like you require a more specialized/dedicated hosting solution than most (if not all) ISPs offer. It may pay to take a look in the hosting forum... There are also a few specials for Whirlpool members.

/forum-threads.cfm?f=116

Jason Μ writes...

Sending 5+ responses to the same email address within the space of a few hours(and demanding to know why you have not had a response) is not going to achieve anything - there are customers with issues with other services who will have their email replied to first.

also a support team letting a customer stew via 5+ is not good idea either,

why was not the reponse given on reading the first or maybe second email plea for support ?

The specific answer to your inquiry is, that we are aware of some possible issues with the user-web server(incl databases) and the fix for this issue is the migration to a new user-web server next week(official outage notification will be posted soon).

so this is the specific answer that could have been a response in
the first or second email reading from the support team ?

Jason Μ writes...

there are customers with issues with other services who will have their email replied to first.

i found this post very interesting & it prompted this reply post
to register a support for the O.P sleepyoz & dismay for the aaNet attitude towards customer who have a support query,

please some-times in support services the customer is only in need of some reassurance & that things can be heard & if need be acted on,

some-times that reassurance is just a kind word is all that is required,
.

viŽitor writes...

first or second email reading from the support team ?

Im sorry, perhaps your understanding of how a large ISP works is not clear, but I will detail it for you.

aaNet receive hundreds of emails every day. Emails are received into a web-based tasking system, not a email program like outlook.

Because of the high level of email received, staff would not have known that the email even existed, other than the fact the email queue count went up by 1.

I could understand your point if aaNet only received one or two emails a day, but not when there is a queue of emails that need to be responded to in order.

I note that you ignored the point I made, where the customer used the incorrect contact method for his support inquiry - the website makes it clear his issue needed to be addressed on the forums, but instead emails were sent first.

Jason

Thanks for the support ViZitor it is appreciated. Unfortunately the aaNet Communication Manager has forgotten that although I may use service at home, I may have some experience in the provision of customer support in my work. Jason has forgotten the primary rule in the provision of a service and that is the customer is ALWAYS right irregardless of how many rules they may have broken, how bad a day you are having or how many e-mails you receive per day. The customer pays your salary and without your customers you don't have a business. It is marvelous how a quick positive response to a query can usually calm any worried customer. I don't think Jason actually knows how big business actually works, let alone how a big ISP works, the reason for his arrogant attitude to his customers.

This attitude appears to be a problem with most immature industries and ISPs fit this bill. The reality being they don't ever have face to face contact with their customers. They can fob you off with a few well rehearsed attacks based upon loosely worded service contracts. The facts are that aaNet have not responded to an absolute avalanche of requests for support on this and their own support forum on a large number of issues. Faults have been reported on the SQL server since March and not one response has been forthcoming from management. The poor moderators are left to fend requests and try and keep up the positive front. How would you feel if your air conditioning/heating in your car failed in your rental car? You would expect to get a replacement car or be compensated even though you only rented a car and the aircon/heater/radio etc were just 'free extras'. Would you be happy to just have to send your request in and have it ignored? Bad, bad, bad business practice, one that would not prove the test of time.

The SQL server is going to upgraded, when? well that has been on the books now for a long time. Jason has committed to letting us know this coming week (19 May) when the outage for the upgrade will occur.

Sorry bloke but the way I see it if you want a hosting/service company then pay for the extra service, I do. I have very little sympathy for a someone with such high demands on a budget ISP. Jason may or may not be right in his comments and he may or may not be terse in his comments, at the end of the day it's a budget ISP and a pretty damn good one, not a hosting company. If you feel you have been so badly done by the I'm sorry if you choose to leave. Just keep in mind there are many of us happy with our service.

No. You ARE being completely unreasonable.

Even though I have left aanet (only because I could not wait for their ADSL2+ to be released, they over a very good deal), I still think they a top notch ISP.

Their customer support is great. Having small phone queues and an aussie on the other end of the phone is infinitely more comforting than other small to medium size ISPs.

You are crying over having you FREE SQL server being jittery. Why in the name of lama are you using the free aanet sql server for business critical applications????? You sound like a grumpy old man!

You send email after email over the space of something like 2 hours and now you are insulting Jason. You are claiming he doesn't know how to do his job and critising aanet business practices BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T ANSWER YOUR EMAIL (or four) AND SERVE YOU FIRST!

From what I have seen, Jason has done a darn good job. I am calling you out. Who are you to judge.

EDIT* Just to flesh out my point a bit more : BUY HOSTING stop being so cheap, it's like less than $10 a month. Poor didums wasn't served first :(

Sorry gnome, where did I say I wanted a hosting company? I haven't, just the service I am paying for. As for being a budget ISP, as far as I am aware they are a subsidiary of Eftel (happy to be corrected if I have this wrong) and 'EFTel is one of Australia’s largest Internet Service Providers'.

As for your position, I'm not commenting on your acceptance of their level of support. I am glad you are happy, but not sure why I should keep this in mind.

/facepalm

sleepyoz writes...

Sorry gnome, where did I say I wanted a hosting company? I haven't, just the service I am paying for. As for being a budget ISP, as far as I am aware they are a subsidiary of Eftel (happy to be corrected if I have this wrong) and 'EFTel is one of Australia’s largest Internet Service Providers'.

You are NOT paying for the sql server. It's free. You are paying for cheap internet.

Buy web hosting if its so critical you can't wait 3 hours without spazzing out.

The customer is not always right, and the only people that spout that nonsense these days are irate arrogant individuals who cannot understand why they don't get what they want when they stamp their feet.

Where did I say I was using this for business critical services? I wasn't expecting to be served first, I was just expecting to be served, which to date still hasn't been done.

I am one of the multitude of customers that have complained about the lack of customer service. Who am I to judge, I am the customer. I'll call you out, who are you to care?

TheSilmaril writes...

The customer is not always right, and the only people that spout that nonsense these days are irate arrogant individuals who cannot understand why they don't get what they want when they stamp their feet.

Exactly, pretty much anyone who has worked retail knows the customer is hardly ever right.

Where did I say I was using this for business critical services? I wasn't expecting to be served first, I was just expecting to be served, which to date still hasn't been done.

What on earth is so important that it cant wait a few hours without going into crybaby mode, you have the internet you paid for. If the thing you are using the server for is SO important that ANY down time is an issue, you should reassess whether this free system with limited support - AS STATED IN THE CONTRACT - is right for your type of useage.

EDIT (again): AANET seem to offer this service as a courtesy to their members (much like gamearena free usage for bigpond uses) and you are getting irate over this? It's like complaining the free air freshener with a new car doesnt smell good enough.

sleepyoz writes...

Unfortunately the aaNet Communication Manager has forgotten that although I may use service at home, I may have some experience in the provision of customer support in my work. Jason has forgotten the primary rule in the provision of a service and that is the customer is ALWAYS right irregardless of how many rules they may have broken, how bad a day you are having or how many e-mails you receive per day. The customer pays your salary and without your customers you don't have a business. It is marvelous how a quick positive response to a query can usually calm any worried customer. I don't think Jason actually knows how big business actually works, let alone how a big ISP works, the reason for his arrogant attitude to his customers.

Given that you claim to work in customer support, your attitude is even more baffling. If the roles were reversed, and you a) sent your request for support via the incorrect channel, b) re-sent it with the frequency stated by Jason, when it is a low-priority, best-effort, free of charge service provided as a courtesy with no underpinning contract, do you think you might consider the customer was behaving in an unreasonable manner?

Jason Μ writes...

They are provided as a free of charge courtesy to aaNet customers only.

The 'free' bit is irrelevant. Offering 'free' this & that is an accepted sales technique - as in 'free' steak knives, and 'free' motor vehicle on-road costs.

A company can't refuse to deliver the promised steak knives or on-road costs because they were 'free'. aanet still has to deliver all the stuff that it's offering for 'free' because that's what a customer takes into consideration when he/she is buying your Internet service rather than someone else's.

This same excuse has been used re aanet's email services, ie it's Ok if email doesn't work because it's provided as a 'free' service.

gz, as you have asked a reasonable question I think it warrants a response. Publically it wouldn't matter what I thought of the customer, publically I would be trying to placate the customer from the word go. This is what service is about, a new concept I know but maybe it will catch on. Privately you rant, you rave and you call them everything under the sun, but publically they are the most important thing in the world. Do I think I have behaved unreasonably, maybe the fourth or fifth email was a bit quick off the mark, but we now have a commitment from aaNet that they will advise us next week when the SQL server will be upgraded. I think I am getting somewhere. I must be hitting a few points as they are starting to attack the man and not the issue.

sleepyoz writes...

publically I would be trying to placate the customer from the word go.

publically they are the most important thing in the world.

Most people can spot disingenuous comments a mile off. As for the old adage "the customer is always right", does any company still believe that? Certainly none I deal with.

I think I am getting somewhere.

Forums such as Whirlpool are a great way of interacting with ISP management and possibly changing the way they do things. Despite your best intentions I doubt you have had any impact on the way aaNet deal with customers.

The title of your thread is "Is Anybody Working at aaNet?" and most of your posts have been complaints about aaNet and Jason in particular. That seems like "attacking the man" to me.

Given the terms under which the SQL server is made available to you, I don't know that you can really say your complaints have been more effective than a single polite enquiry via the correct channel would have been.

Obviously you don't tell the customer what you really think of him, but if the customer's behaviour - for example, cluttering up your stack with duplicate requests for a low-priority service - disrupt your ability to serve other customers with higher priority requests, then that customer has to be told that their behaviour is unreasonable. Consistent failure to do so is a great way to lose service desk staff.

You must admit they have just wacked up there priceing should they not supply service to reflect that? it should be delivered not tuff your a

gzeuskraiste writes...

low-priority

grow up!!

I had no service sent a fax and request Thu 24/04/2008 11:02 AM still no responce at all Telstra fixed it not aanet but thats only as I knew who to talk to
I dont care now as im off in 10 days thank god!!!

sctpc writes...

grow up!!

Excuse me?

Where else do you think free of charge access to an SQL server for personal webspace should sit in the priority list? Above IP routing issues? Above voice? Above email? Above aaNet's webservers? Above their DNS? Above authentication? Above their backend usage/customer DB/billing systems?

Something has to be low priority.

If I was waiting for my ISP to fix say, a broken inbox or assignment of my IP address in the wrong subnet and screwing up my routing because they got pre-empted by someone complaining about the issue the OP reported, I would rightly be annoyed.

It seems this thread has lost the plot, this is about the total lack of customer service by aaNet, not about the customers. I didn't ask for pre-emption, I have only asked for a response, still waiting.

I would suggest that if they don't have those things sorted it probably is a good indicator of the standard of the company.

Next time someone offers you something free with something you buy, under your terms, they don't actually need to provide it. So in this case, you believe an ISP doesn't need to provide e-mail, web access, or anything else because all you are paying for is the ADSL link.

sleepyoz writes...

It seems this thread has lost the plot, this is about the total lack of customer service by aaNet, not about the customers.

Jason has already stated that you did not follow the prescribed process for getting support for the webspace, which is via the forum only.

Why is it that you not following instructions on the website equates to 'total lack of customer service' on aaNet's part?

Because aaNet are neither responding nor repairing services in a timely manner as they are required to under the conditions of the T & Cs. Pretty easy actually when you read it.

gzeuskraiste writes...

free of charge access to an SQL server for personal webspace

sorry so when I leave I still get access? thats what I ment ( no on the personal side ) when was it FREE thake off you rose glasses it ant Free and if it offered then we pay for it and it should be fixed plan and simple

I havent been on my webspace for years with aanet but the one i do pay for had better fix it quick if it ever goes down and yes I do pay for it TOO

sleepyoz writes...

It seems this thread has lost the plot, this is about the total lack of customer service by aaNet, not about the customers.

It mostly seems to be about differing opinions on the priority with which they should deal with an issue relating to stability of the SQL server provided for your free personal webspace, and the appropriate response and repair time for said issue. There are two sides to that equation: customer service, and customer expectation.

I didn't ask for pre-emption, I have only asked for a response, still waiting.

I didn't say you did, I merely pointed out to another user that whenever you have a prioritised ticketing system, something has to occupy the lowest priority.

In any case, you did receive a response - around 4 hours after your OP:

The specific answer to your inquiry is, that we are aware of some possible issues with the user-web server(incl databases) and the fix for this issue is the migration to a new user-web server next week(official outage notification will be posted soon).

This was after you received a response clarifying to you the correct channel for reporting the issue. If you think that's a "total lack of customer service", then might I suggest that you have a "total lack of perspective"?

I would suggest that if they don't have those things sorted it probably is a good indicator of the standard of the company.

Or about their priorities.

Next time someone offers you something free with something you buy, under your terms, they don't actually need to provide it. So in this case, you believe an ISP doesn't need to provide e-mail, web access, or anything else because all you are paying for is the ADSL link.

They are providing it; you and they have a difference of opinion with regards to expected and actual response and repair times.

But in fact, you are correct, strictly speaking. An ISP doesn't have to provide any of those services unless they have signed an agreement to. If they used language such as "best effort", and you could show to the relevant court/authority/whatever that they had not provided it to their best effort, you might be compensated. More likely and more importantly, such an ISP would lose so many customers they would go out of business. aaNet, however, won't be haemorrhaging customers from this issue because very few of them would rely on a personal webspace, for which they pay no extra money, to host a site whose downtime would be so important as to complain in the manner you have on this thread.

sleepyoz writes...

Because aaNet are neither responding nor repairing services in a timely manner as they are required to under the conditions of the T & Cs. Pretty easy actually when you read it.

aaNet:> www.aanet.com.au/sfoa.html

Standard Form of Agreement
General Terms and Conditions of Service

3.0 Provision of service

3.3 We will remedy faults in the equipment or the services in a timely manner and, if applicable to you, in accordance with any obligations to you under the Customer Service Guarantee.

“Customer Service Guarantee”
means any applicable performance standard of that name made pursuant to the Telecommunications (Consumer Protection and Service Standards) Act 1999 (Cth) (see www.acma.gov.au).

please notice the “Customer Service Guarantee” is tied into
Telecommunications(Consumer Protection and Service Standards) Act 1999
.

Top Banana writes...

A company can't refuse to deliver the promised steak knives

No, but they aren't going to help when you manage to break or bend one of the cheap, free steak knives either...

And customers are not always right. They may think they are, but they are very often, very, very wrong.

sleepyoz writes...

this is about the total lack of customer service by aaNet,

Total lack? Have you had other interactions with their customer service that was unsatisfactory? I know I have not.

I also know that, should I need to, I'm not going to use an ISP's (Internet Service Provider) free, added-extra service for anything that's business critical. My other half has a business, it relies heavily on e-mail and the need to be able to respond rapidly and uninterruptedly to e-mails. To that end I pay for an SMTP server service which has a guarantee of service and fall-over redundancy. it's about $1.20 a month. Not too bad for peace of mind where one missed e-mail could cost a couple of thousand dollars. Othet things that I would class in this "if you need it, pay for it" category would be web-hosting for anything that I may need that for. Indeed, we also pay to have her web-site hosted professionally. I could do it, but what if aaNet's servers are out of commission for a short while? Not worth the risk, so we pay.

After all, an ISP is really just that. There to provide you an internet service, not all the anicillary stuff too, that's a bonus IMO.

Hahahahaha that's funny (in a bad way), as 'The CSG only applies where a phone company offers a CSG service at a customer's location. It does not apply to:

mobile phone services;
Internet services;
customer equipment, such as the telephone handset;
disconnection of services; or
pre-selection (change of phone company or 'churn') delays.'

This is the only CSG on the ACA site from what I can find. Any help?

Would everybody please note - I am NOT note NOT using this for business critical applications so get off that band wagon and stop trying to cloud the issue.

And the answer to your first question, yes.

sleepyoz writes...

I am NOT note NOT using this for business critical applications

But you are using it for something that is THAT important to you. Same thing, different colour.

With your belligerent and deprecating tone I'm not surprised you aren't getting what you are clamoring for.

As others have said, this thread didn't start off having much point, and it certainly hasn't gone anywhere since then.

Closed.